Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Crosses the Ocean!

Deeply Rooted Dance Theater is the first American company to participate in JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, an international festival in its 15th year in “Sister City” Durban, South Africa. During its 10-day residency, DRDT will present two performances, one a collaboration with Durban’s Flatfoot Dance Company, and participate in workshops and community-based outreach to rural and urban townships involving nearly 700 young people in Durban. The U.S. Consulate General in Durban sponsors Deeply Rooted Dance Theater with funding from the U.S. Department of State’s Arts Envoy Program.

“Deeply Rooted is honored to be the first U.S. company in this festival, which I find especially appealing due to its combination of contemporary and traditional African dance,” said DRDT Artistic Director/Co-Founder Kevin Iega Jeff. “I’m also looking forward to working with Flatfoot, which, like Deeply Rooted, is committed to using dance as a medium to engage in constructive social change.”

The internet connection has been pretty sketchy across the ocean, but Technical Director Julie Ballard used all the bandwidth in their hotel to send these photos from afar!

Deeply Rooted dancer Nijawwon Matthews and Flatfoot Dance Company's Julia Wilson with U.S. Consul General in Durban Taylor Ruggles. Photo by Julie E. Ballard
Deeply Rooted dancer Nijawwon Matthews and Flatfoot Dance Company’s Julia Wilson with
U.S. Consul General in Durban Taylor Ruggles. Photo by Julie E. Ballard

 

Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Artistic Director/Co-Founder Kevin Iega Jeff, U.S. Consul General in Durban Taylor Ruggles, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Associate Artistic Director/Co-Founder Gary Abbott. Photo by Julie E. Ballard
Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Artistic Director/Co-Founder Kevin Iega Jeff, U.S. Consul General in Durban Taylor Ruggles, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Associate Artistic Director/Co-Founder Gary Abbott. Photo by Julie E. Ballard

 

 

Author: Lauren Warnecke

Lauren Warnecke is a freelance dance critic, contributing to the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Magazine. She is senior editor of See Chicago Dance. Lauren covers dance across the Midwest and writes regularly for Dance Magazine and Pointe with additional bylines in Milwaukee Magazine, St. Louis Magazine and Dance Teacher. Forthcoming publications include essays on ballet training in Chicago (University of Illinois Press) and Shirley Mordine (University of Akron Press). In 2020, Lauren published an opinion piece on the impact of COVID-19 on the arts in the South African journal Agenda. Lauren holds degrees in dance and kinesiology and has presented research on dance training practices at the National Dance Education Organization and the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science. She has co-facilitated critical dance writing intensives in Chicago and Durban, South Africa, and participated in writing residencies at the National Center for Choreography, Bates Dance Festival and JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience. Lauren teaches dance history and kinesiology for dancers, with part-time appointments at Loyola University Chicago and Illinois Wesleyan University.

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